The team had an awesome weekend playing against some great teams in Stoney Creek at the 32nd Annual Ace Bailey AE Tournament.
Our first game was a tough match up against...
a strong Oakville Rangers hockey club. It was a tough test for our team. With some great goaltending and a resiliency we fought off the high pressure attack of the Rangers and managed to hold on for a 5 - 4 win.
Later that afternoon we found our selves in a deep hole being down by 3 very early in the game to another great team, the Lorne Park Clarkson Wild. The boys kept pushing and we clawed our way back into the game. This game was by far the most high scoring seesaw battle of the season for our team. Late in the game we found ourselves down by 2 with just shy of 1 minute remaining. We pulled our goalie to give us an extra attacker and with an incredible effort, Beaulieu got us within 1. Off the ensuing draw we gained possession and got the puck deep. Finally, a mad scramble in front of the net saw Davidson poke a loose puck home to tie the game with 9 seconds on the clock. The overtime format started with a 1 minute 3 on 3. Lorne Park took an early tripping penalty and the 3 on 2 power play proved too much when Beaulieu scored to lift us to a 10 - 9 victory in overtime. WOW! One of the most exciting games I've been a part of.
Saturday morning we had a chance to lock up first place in the division against South Point. The team got the job done with a 5 - 2 win. This set the stage for another match up with South Point in the semi finals on Saturday afternoon. The team was ready to rock and we put together our all around best effort of the tournament posting an 8 - 1 semi final win.
The stage was now set to face off against the Oakville Rangers on Sunday for the championship. Knowing how difficult it is to beat the same team twice in a weekend, we were in for our toughest contest of the season and tournament. This match up proved to be a special teams battle as both teams were in and out of the penalty box for the better part of the game. Falling behind early ended up being too much for our boys to climb back. Unfortunately, we fell to a great team with a final score of 7 - 3.
A big congrats to our Oakridge Aeros and the Oakville Rangers for a great tournament.
The coaches are extremely proud of the team for their efforts this weekend. Great job Aeros!
On to the next one…